Grain-door for cars.



B. F. OWENS. GRAIN DOOR FOR GARS.

APPLIOA'QZION IILED JAN. 27, 1908.

Patented Feb. 2, 1-909.

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B. F. OWENS.

GRAIN DOOR FOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27, 1908.

' Patented Feb. 2, 1909.

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BENJAMIN F. OWENS, OF ROCKWELL CITY, IOWA.

GRAIN-DOOR FOR CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 2, 1909.

Application filed January 27, 1908. Serial No. 412,767.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. ()wENs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockwell City, in the county of Calhoun and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Grain-Door for Cars, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an inner door especially adapted for grain cars, and so arranged as to form a permanent tight door, designed to hold grain orthe like, and which may be readily and'easily opened as required to permit an operator to remove grain fom the car, and when opened, thedoor may be readily, quickly and easily folded within the car in such a manner as to occupy a minimum of space, and thus permit the use of the car for other purposes.

A further object is to provide a door of this class that, need not be secured in either of its ositions by nails or screws, and which theref worn out by persons attempting to secure it by such means. Y

My invention consists in the construction,

arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a part of a car provided with my improved inner door, in a closed position. Fig. 2 shows a similar view of the opposite side of the door. Fig. 3 shows a vertical central sectional view of a portion of a car provided with my improved door, in a closed position. The dotted lines at the top of the figure indicate the position of the lower door section when folded, and the dotted lines at the bottom of the figure indicate the position of thegrainescape door when open. Fig. 4 shows a detail view illustrating one of the sup orting devices at the top of the car for ho ding the lower door section in its folded position. Fig. 5 shows a detail sectional view of the hinge bar of the upper door section taken through the point that is provided with ribs. Fig. 6 shows a detail view of one of the hinge members of the upper door section, to co-act with the hinge bar shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 shows an enlarged detail perspective View of the latch device for holding the door ore is not'likely to become broken or in a closed position. Fig. 8 shows an enlarged detail face view of the lower portion of the slide bolt. Fig. 9 shows a detail perspective view illustrating the hinge connection of the upper door section, and Fig. 10 shows a detail perspective view of the door plate showing the openings therein to receive the slide bolt.

yReferring to the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate the car sill adjacent to the door, 11 the side of the car having the door openings therein, and 12 the car roof.

I provide a door plate 14 placed on top of the sill 10 and provided with two notches 15. At its inner edge these notches are placed in line with an opening 16 extended downwardly through the sill.

The car door is formed of an upper and a lower section. The upper section is indicated by the reference numeral 17 and is provided with two hinge members 18 and 19, the latter having an opening 20 for a hinge bar, and two notches 21 on opposite sides of the opening. The hinge bar is indicated by the numeral 22 and is extended through the hinge members 18 and 19 and supported by the brackets 23. At the lower portion of the hinge bar are two ribs 24 designed to enter the notches 21. .In use, when the upper door is in a closed position, the ribs 24 will rest in the notches 21, and thus secure the door in said position.

In order to open the door, it is elevated until the hinge member 19 is above the ribs 24, whereupon the door may swing to its open position, when it will dro and the ribs 24 will again enter the note cs 21 and thus lock it in its open position.

I have provided a latch device for the upper door section consisting of a hinge 25 secured to the upper door and having a loop 26 thereon. The other part of the hinge 25 is provided with a slot 27 designed to receive a staple 28 on a plate 29 fixed to the door frame. A pin 30 is attached to the door by means of a chain 30 and when the dooris in a closed position the pin 30 is inserted in the position shown in Fig. 7, thus securely holding the door in said position, and when the door is open, the hinge may be folded and thepin 30 inserted in the loop 26, thus holding the hinge in its folded position.

The lower doorlsection comprises a body edge, a metal loop 32 to project straight outwar dly. On one side of the car adiacent to the door opening, is a vertical guiderod 33v having formed at its top a loop 34. This guide rod extend; through the loop 32 and is so arranged that the lower door section may be raised to position where the loop 32 will enter the loop 34, which will then prevent it from moving downwardly and form a hinge on which the lower door section may swing to position parallel with the roof of the ear, and in this connection I have provided a hook 35 secured to the roof of the car to engage and support the lower door section when in such position. On the opposite side of the car door opening, I have provided a loop 36 similar to the loop 34 designed to receive the loop 32 on the opposite side of the lower car door, to support the edge of the door to which it is attached.

In order to support the lower car door section in its closed position, I have provided two latch devices on the outer faces thereof, similar to the latching device before described for the upper door section, and I have also provided a slide bolt 37 mounted in guides 38 on the outer face of the lower car door section to be capable of up and down movement. The lower section of said slide bolt is provided with two lugs 39 spaced apart and designed to enter the notches 15 in the door plate 14,

In the use of car doors, it is well known that as long as the car is filled with grain, which presses outwardly against the car door, it is practically impossible to move a car door either inwardly or vertically. I have provided a means for relieving the pressure of the grain upon the lower car door efore attempting to open it, as follows: Formed at the bottom of the lower car door, is a small opening, and a grain discharge door 40 is connected by hinges 41 to the lower car door section to normally cover said opening, and to be capable of having its lower end swing outwardly. On the bottom edge of the lower car door 31 is a metal strip 41 extended across the opening of the grain discharge door 40 and designed to engage the inner edge of the plate 14 and stand flush with the top of said plate. In this way, the door 40 is always free to swing outwardly when released. Connected to the door 40 is a guide loop 42 through which the bolt 37 is passed. This bolt is provided with a hinge at 43 to permit its lower end to swing outwardly with the door 40. The parts are so arranged relative to each other that when the bolt is at its lower limit of movement, then the hinge 43 is below the hinge line of the door 40, hence, the door is firmly braced in its closed position, then when the bolt is elevated far enough to clear the door plate,

the hin e 43 is in line with the hinge joint of the oor 40, and tire door 40 may freely swing outwardly.

. In order to lock the bolt 37 at its lower limit of movement, I have provided a pawl 44 pivoted to the lower car door section above the bolt 37, to normally engage the top of the bolt. This pawl however, may be swung to one side, and the bolt permitted to rise. In order to lock the bolt in its elevated position wnere its hinge will be in line with that of the door 40, I have provided a pawl 45 pivoted to the lower car door section and de si' ned to engae a notch 46 in the slide bolt 37, when the slide bolt is in position with its hin'ige in line with the hinges of thedoor 40.

One of the advantages of having the lower end of the slide bolt provided with two lugs 39 spaced apart, is that the space between the lugs forms a convenient place to receive a crowbar or other device which may be used to elevate the slide bolt.

In practical use, and assuming that the device is in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, obviously a strong, durable and graintight door is provided, which is lirmly locked and held against displacement by any shocks or jars to which it is liable to be subjected when in use. Assuming that it is desired to remove grain from the car, the operator first elevates the slide bolt 37 until the pawl 45 enters the notch 46. Then the pressure of the grain upon the inner surface of the door 40 will cause the door to swing open, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, and will permit the grain to flow out until the pressure of the grain upon the interior of the lower car door has been-removed. Then the operator may release the catch devices on the outer surfaces of the car door sections, and he may then elevate the upper car door and swing it around to an open position. He may then bodily elevate the lower car door and support it on the loops 34 and 36 near the top of the car.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car door formed with an opening at its lower portion, a small door hin ed to the car door to cover said opening, a slide bolt mounted on the car door and extended over the outer face of the small door, said bolt being formed with a hinge capable in one position of standing" in line with the hinges of the small door and a door frame having an opening therein to receive said bolt.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car door formed with an opening at its lower portion, a small door hin ed to the car door to cover said opening, a slide bolt mounted on the car door and extended over the outer face of the small door, said bolt being formed with. a hinge capable in one position of standing in line with the hinges of the small door, and means for securing said bolt in said position and a door frame having an openlng therein to.

receive said bolt.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a car door formed with an opening at its lower portion, a small door hinged to the car door to cover said opening, a slide bolt mounted on the car door.and extended over the outer face of the small door, said bolt being formed with a hinge capable in one position of standing in line with the hin es of the small door, means for securing said bolt in said position, and means for securing said bolt in position with its hinge below the hinges of the small door and a door frame having an opening therein to receive said bolt.

4. In a device 0tv the class described,the I combination of a car door having a small opening therein, a small door hinged to the car door to cover said opening, and capable of swinging outwardly, guide 100 s on the car door, a guide loop on the smal door, a bolt slidingly'mounted in said guide loops, and having a forked lower end, a hinged oint in said bolt capable of moving to osition in line with the hinge joint of the sma 1 door, a latch device for supporting the slide bolt in said position, means for locking the slide bolt at its lower limit of movement, a notched plate designed to be placed on a car sill and a metal strip on the lower edge of the car door to engage said plate, and stand flush with its top, said strip being extended across the grain door opening.

Des Moines, Iowa, Dec. 26, 1907.

BENJAMIN F. OWENS.

Witnesses:

T. P. I-IUFF, S. A. STEWART. 

